Sunday, November 13, 2005

Skinny pants

Skinny pants have been in the fashion scene for years. From Kate Moss to Sienna Miller, from mail delivery guys to rock stars, skinny pants gained an important seat in the fashion world and are frequently featured in fashion magazines.

I just went through the process of finding my perfect skinny pants. Most of the preppy brands such as JCrew or Banana Republic don't produce skinny pants, so the best places to go are the European designer brands and designer denims. When you shop for the perfect skinny pants, don't forget to wear a pair of high heels. Most of the girls don't have models' legs to look good in skinny jeans, and so the mirrors in the shops can be very discouraging if you don’t have a pair of heels to elongate the legs.

My first pair of skinny jeans is from Martin Margiela's line 6. It is made of 100% cotton, low waist, and with grayish blue color. I never thought that Martin Margiela made skinny jeans, but apparently the basic line 6 considers it one of the must haves.

My latest purchase is a pair of Stella McCartney corduroy skinny pants. In fact, I ordered eight pairs of pants from http://www.yoox.com/ but only that pair fit me perfectly. Among the six pairs of pants, the MiuMiu pair was the most disappointing pants. The material felt cheap and it was a shapeless Italian size 38. Balenciaga is the king of pant makers, but I didn't realize that I needed to wear French size 34 nowadays after a brutal summer in Boston. All the Balenciagas I ordered were size 36, so apparently they didn't work. It's not Nicolas Ghesquiere's fault though. Same thing happened to the Costume National pants. They are good looking but slightly loose on me. The Stella McCartney pants are stretchy, and the corduroy is as soft as a thin layer of silk. The details are amazing and the "Stella" on the pocket just makes them look delicious.

When looking for styling tips, I often refer to Stella McCartney's runway pictures for inspiration. Stella herself showed up on the runway with a chunky knit sweater and the drain pipes look gorgeous on her. When the pants are this tight, a loose top will balance out. At the same time, make sure the top is long enough to cover the middle part. Very long top will cover the entire bum and leave only the legs shown, which create an illusion of super long legs. Lots of models wear ankle length skinny jeans, but I believe that most of the people will look better with pants covering the heels. One exception is to wear a YSL look with ankle length pants and platform shoes. The ankles can be very sexy, and the platform shoes will balance the look and elongate legs.

To summarize the styling tips, let me use a couple of pictures to demonstrate:

Picture #1
Stella McCartney on runway (picture courtesy of http://www.style.com/)
Chucky sweater balances the entire outfit and creates a leggy look. Long pants (with zippers open) cover the heels and it makes the proportion right.
Stella McCartney skinny pants - Jing's Fashion Reviews

Picture #2
Kate Moss candid picture (Picture courtesy of Getty Imiges)
Skinny jeans tucked in round toe boots. The boots are the Marc Jacobs round toe boots with four inches of heels. It gives her a Rock & Roll look instantly. Kate Moss in skinny jeans - Jing's Fashion Reviews
Picture #3
Imitation of Christ runway picture (picture courtesy of http://www.style.com/)
High waist skinny jeans elongate the torso. To balance the look, a pair of red stiletto attracts the focus and gives the body a great proportion. Avoid too many embellishments on jeans and keep the silhouette clean.Imitation of Christ skinny pants - Jing's Fashion Reviews

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

thanks for your information. I have been looking for a skinny pant to go with my boots, but not find it yet. -----dinosaur

Caffeine said...

It takes time...it's even harder to find skinny pants than finding regular pants. I found some nice looking ones on Yoox.com though:)

Anonymous said...

lucky you! but I have never bought any clothes online, cuz I am afraid they won't fit on me, I have to try everything on before I buy it because my figure is not that good :)) ----dinosaur

Melinda said...

So hard to wear, but great if you can pull them off! Great way to wear your new fall boots.

etre-soi said...

yeah great skinny pants :) haven't found one yet that will really fit me nicely but I'll keep on looking :)
I'm an accessories designer from France if you want to have a look at my blogshop, be welcome : http://lafeeshop.blogspot.com

Caffeine said...

Hey dinosaur, I'm sure you will find great pants that fit. Just be patient:)
Melinda,thanks for the comments. I'm still looking for a pair of boots that look good with Skinny pants.
La Fée Coriandre, thank you. I found high heels so essential to pull off the look. I'll visit your blog as I love accessories but need more education on them:)

-caffeine

Anonymous said...

I am inviting you to participate in a fashion blogging event. Next
Friday is Black Friday, the biggest shopping day in America. I am asking other fashion bloggers to join me in blogging about their own views on fashion, consumption, individuality, and the importance of fashion in our lives. I am encouraging any other fashion bloggers to join me in this endeavor, just make your own political fashion statements about your view on consumption and fashion and I will link up and we can hopefully dialogue about the importance of individualityin fashion!

Caffeine said...

hi almost girl, I just saw your message after posting my new article. I think that the new article is actually relevant. I will write more, maybe next week, and let's keep in touch and see what we find:-)

Shaiful Mukhelas said...

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http://malaysia-shopper-craze.blogspot.com/

Leather Jackets said...

I have been looking for a skinny pant to go with my boots